The present invention relates to a new and distinctive cultivar of Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens Hawkeri, commercially known as New Guinea Impatiens, and known by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Ovation Hot Lavaxe2x80x99. Ovation Hot Lava was developed in a controlled breeding program by crossing Waller Seedling No. 96-1J-77-1 (seed parent) with Waller Seedling No. 93-1J-50 (pollen parent). Both parents are proprietary breeding lines which have not been sold or made publicly available in this country.
Asexual reproduction carried out by the inventor in Lompoc, Calif. by terminal or stem cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stabilized and are reproduced true to type in successive propagations.
The following combination of characteristics distinguish the new Impatiens from both its parent varieties and other cultivated Impatiens of this type known and used in the floriculture industry:
1. Ovation Hot Lava has Orange-Red Group 40A colored flowers while Harmony Orange (unpatented) and Celebration Orange (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,078) both have Orange-Red Group 33A colored flowers.
2. Ovation Hot Lava has a small light lavender pink eye in the center of the flower while Harmony Orange and Celebration Orange have a carmine eye.
3. Ovation Hot Lava is intermediate in flower size at 7.0 to 7.5 cm in diameter with Harmony Orange having smaller flowers at 6.0 to 6.5 cm and Celebration Orange having larger flowers at 7.5 to 8.0 cm.
4. Ovation Hot Lava is similar in height to Harmony Orange but more compact than Celebration Orange.
5. Ovation Hot Lava has deep green leaves while Harmony Orange has dark green with red-purple cast leaves and Celebration Orange has medium green leaves.
6. Ovation Hot Lava has leaves that are 10 to 11 cm long which is similar to Harmony Orange but smaller than Celebration Orange which has 13 to 14 cm long leaves.
7. Ovation Hot Lava has red-purple pedicels while Harmony Orange has a yellow-green pedicel and Celebration Orange has a yellow-green with slight red-purple cast pedicel.
8. Ovation Hot Lava has a red-orange cast to the anther hood while both Harmony Orange and Celebration Orange each have an anther hood with a red-purple cast.